A Woman's Worth
by Pied Piper
Summary: Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. Welcome the chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. But, hey, when you're desperate, you're desperate. AU

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

**Author's Note:** I know, I know, shouldn't be starting another story. But in case you can't tell, I love writing romantic comedies. I can't help myself….

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

"I can't find my tie."

"Well, what does it look like?"

"They all look the same—black!"

"Move, will you? You're hogging the mirror!"

"Get your own fucking mirror—!"

"Boys—," she interrupted hopefully.

"Where the hell is my tie?"

"Who used up all the hair gel?"

"What do you need more for? One match could set your whole head on fire—,"

"Boys!" she tried again, irritated.

"Are you wearing my tie?"

"If I was wearing it, it wouldn't be yours now, would it?"

"Give me back my tie, you bastard!"

"Stop shoving! I'm almost done—give me five more seconds—,"

"But I was here first! _You_ wait five seconds—!"

"Boys!" she screamed.

They stopped, guilty, frozen in action.

Tachikawa Mimi, primly dressed in a bright orange satin gown, stood at the door of the bathroom, where her three roommates were currently crammed, pushing and shoving in their hurry to get ready. Her soft, dirty blonde hair had been pulled up into an extravagant bun, wrapped with orange ribbons and tiny white flowers. She wore a corsage on her right wrist, unadorned left hand gripping a beautifully arranged bouquet to compliment the entire ensemble.

"Oh," sighed Takaishi Takeru, the one hogging the mirror. He beamed at Mimi. "You're a vision."

"A bright, orange lollipop vision," Yagami Taichi added, returning to shoving Takeru out of the way so he could check his hair again.

Motomiya Daisuke contributed lowly, "Absolutely lovely, you know, apart from the look of pure, unadulterated hatred on your otherwise gorgeous face…."

Mimi stared between the three of them, calmly repressing the urge to murder her three useless friends. "Get in the car."

"I thought we were going with the taxi?" Taichi wondered aloud.

She shrieked and tried to pounce on him, fingers stretched like claws, but Daisuke managed to grab her by the waist and haul her towards the door.

Takeru tugged on Taichi's sleeve, shaking his head, "Please don't provoke her."

"Don't look at me. I didn't do anything. She's the one all bent out of shape because of this wedding."

"Then let's do our best to get through it as painlessly as possible, okay?"

Taichi frowned, carefully combing through dark brown hair with his fingers once more. "Okay, let's go."

Grumbling and nit-picking, the unusual quartet of friends got into Daisuke's car and drove to the church, weaseling in and out of traffic and sharp corners, risking bodily harm to get to the service on time. Daisuke parked towards the end of the lot while Mimi panicked over a loose tendril of hair that had slipped out during the ride. Takeru poked his finger with the pin trying to fix it for her, so Taichi had to take over.

"Stop moving," he said when she kept squirming.

"Can we do it while we walk?" she asked, already walking away. He had no choice but to chase after the woman, holding onto the loose strand of hair, forcing her to be still once they reached the sidewalk outside the entrance of the church. "Hurry up," she pestered, nervous.

"Done!" he declared just as she was about to step inside.

Relieved, Mimi gathered up the skirt of the bright orange gown and shot through the door, galloping down the center aisle and coming to a stumbling halt at the altar, where the two other bridesmaids had already gathered. She patted down her hair, smiling sweetly, smoothing her dress.

The boys took their seats on the bride's side, though none of them really knew the couple that well at all. Mimi was the common factor here, and she had squeezed out invitations for them, knowing how interesting wedding receptions could be for three bachelors looking for a night of fun and good food. In fact, whenever one of Mimi's friends got married or she was hired to cater another wedding, she always made sure to bring her roommates along, and they always went wherever Mimi's cooking was going to be served.

She hated to admit it, but they were her rock. Sad, but true. After all, if it hadn't been for the three of them, she'd have been out on the street, living in her wedding catering business van. Instead, they'd opened up their apartment and even moved things around so she could have her own room. It had been a sweet gesture, and she'd taken it gratefully, sure she'd be able to afford her own place in a few months.

That was five years ago.

Five years, and Mimi was still waiting for the love of her life to show up and whisk her away.

"Uh-oh," Daisuke whistled lowly from the congregation, noting the look on his friend's face.

Takeru made a face. "I knew this was going to happen…."

Taichi sighed, sinking low into his seat. "This is embarrassing."

The other two ignored him, eyeing Mimi carefully throughout the rest of the ceremony, and as soon as it was over, they popped out of their chairs.

"Come on," Daisuke said, gesturing to Taichi, who reluctantly dragged himself out of his chair and followed them uninterestedly.

"Where'd she go?" Takeru asked, looking around.

They went in search of her, asking people, growing more worried with each passing minute. And then, while walking by the bridal room in the back corner of the church, they heard distinct sniffling and stopped. Takeru sighed. Daisuke and Taichi exchanged looks.

Takeru didn't bother knocking. He opened the door to find Mimi scrunched up in the corner of the tiny parlor, knees pressed to her chest, face bent away. He smiled sadly, crouching beside her, touching a shoulder. She turned and buried her face in his shoulder, continuing to sniffle.

"Just forget about it, Mimi," Daisuke told her. "Your time will come."

"When?" she wailed, crying even harder.

"Come on, you'll ruin your makeup," Takeru said, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"I don't care," she protested stubbornly. "Nobody notices me anyway…."

"Christ," Taichi rolled his eyes, shoving hands into the pockets of his suit pants, leaning against the closed door. "Why should anyone notice you with the way you're acting now?" he demanded, annoyed by the melodrama.

Takeru shot him a look of warning. "What he means is," the blond corrected, "you shouldn't let yourself get so discouraged. You never know who'll walk in the door."

The trio looked up, staring at the door.

Daisuke gestured frantically at the eldest of the four, who still leaned against the wall, blocking the door. Taichi straightened, moving away moodily.

The door remained closed.

Mimi wrinkled her nose, tears forming.

"Well, I didn't mean literally," Takeru recovered uncomfortably.

"Oh, let's face it," Mimi hiccupped. "This is my destiny."

"You're not that old," Daisuke reassured. Takeru gave him the look of death and he backed down. "What I meant was—,"

"No, no, you're right," Mimi interrupted. She wiped her face, calming down. "I'm much too old to be acting like this. I am a mature, respectable young woman, and I am confident in this. I don't need a man to tell me that. And I'm certainly not so desperate as to—well, I'm bigger than this. Right?"

They nodded robotically, too scared to suggest otherwise.

"Good." Mimi stood up, checking for running mascara in the mirror. She blinked her eyes dry, smiled, and then whirled around, heading for the door. "Dinner's going to be served soon. If they had let me cater, it would have been much better, but we all have to settle for lesser things sometimes, don't we?" She left the door open. "Hurry up, boys!"

Takeru was the first to break the lingering silence, "She is getting kinda old…."

"I think we should do something," Daisuke said.

"Don't even," Taichi warned.

"But we're her best friends!" the young man protested. "We know the kinds of things she likes, what she looks for in men. We could be the best judges here."

Takeru sat up, blue eyes brightening and smile widening. "It's perfect," he agreed. "Being her matchmaker—I know a lot of guys who could be good."

"We'll do preliminary tests on all of them—you know, background checks, make sure they're not freaks or stalkers or perverts or anything. We're much better judges. After all, we are guys; we know how we think."

"Thus, we can cure Mimi's Always-the-Bridesmaid-Never-the-Bride Syndrome, just like that," Takeru snapped his fingers for added emphasis. "Daisuke, this could be the best idea you've ever had."

"And I will have nothing to do with this fantastic display of insanity," Taichi spoke for the first time, bowing out of the room.

"But it's for Mimi, Taichi," Daisuke said. "We all want what's best for her, don't we? We all care about her. She's like the sister we've never had."

Taichi stared at him. "Daisuke, you already have a sister."

"Fine. Mimi's the sister we've always wanted. And as her surrogate brothers, we have the responsibility to make sure she's happy and well taken care of. And you can't tell me you don't want that for her, Taichi. Deep down, you care about what happens to her, admit it."

Taichi didn't say anything, scowling uneasily.

Takeru stood up. "You in or not?"

He grimaced, hesitating. And then he sighed, making a mental note to hide the evidence of his involvement in case Mimi turned out to be less receptive than these two idiots thought.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Perfect!" Daisuke grinned. "Then let Operation: Get Mimi Hooked Up begin!"


	2. Chapter 2

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

It turned out that Taichi was right: Mimi was not as receptive as their two idiotic friends assumed she'd be.

Although, in hindsight, it was no one's fault really.

Takeru's first choice was a friend of his at the publishing company where he and Taichi currently worked. Taichi knew this man as well; he was Izumi Koushiro, a redheaded technology expert who also went to the same high school as Takeru. Koushiro was pleasant and friendly when he wanted to be and very loyal as well. He'd dated here and there but had never been involved seriously with anyone, for as far as Takeru could tell.

So when Takeru casually invited him to dinner one evening, the blond and Daisuke were eager to test their newest project. They made a big deal of it, anxiously waiting for dinner to start so they could witness the fruit of their hard work.

And then Mimi had come home.

It had apparently been an awful day at the catering business and she was very much not in the mood to entertain.

She sat sullenly through the entire meal, drinking more than usual and her mind obviously elsewhere.

Koushiro bid a quick goodbye after the dessert and Mimi took a long bubble bath, taking the rest of the wine with her.

She didn't seem to notice that Takeru had tried to set up a blind date for her, because when she finally came out of the bathroom she went about normally enough, giving no indication of suspecting anything.

So though the blond was upset that his choice hadn't worked out, he consented to try again.

Daisuke, of course, leapt at the chance to one up his eternal rival. The aspiring theater actor used his talents to convince a fellow thespian to join them for a lunch outing one weekend before the four roommates were going to go see a movie.

Daisuke showed up with a tall, lanky blond that Takeru at once hated. (Of course, this probably had more to do with the fact that the actor seemed awfully friendly with Daisuke, but Takeru would never admit this.) When Taichi arrived with Mimi much later, he tried to give the other two big hints that perhaps a blind date was not a wise choice that afternoon, but before he could say anything, the actor introduced himself as Michael.

Mimi took one look at him and exploded.

Her three roommates watched as poor Michael stuttered his way through another of Mimi's rants, which had absolutely nothing to do with the tall blond at all.

What had happened (as Taichi learned when he was escorting her to the lunch earlier) was that her parents had called her again and it had inevitably ended with yet another fight with her mother concerning the now waning prospects of grandchildren. Mimi had taken the familiar criticism badly, hurt and stressed, and poor unsuspecting Michael took the heat of her frustrated anger most nobly.

They ate lunch (Mimi just picked at hers, crying softly to herself) and went to the movie.

She fell asleep on Taichi's shoulder (snoring lightly) and didn't see Michael sneak out less than fifteen minutes into the film (though Daisuke muttered that he didn't blame the poor bloke).

Again, she seemed to have no earthly idea that all of this had been another set up by well-meaning friends.

She made a vague, passing comment about "that weird blond guy" and his missing whereabouts before treating herself to another long bubble bath and a bottle of wine to calm her nerves.

A few days later, Taichi had advised that perhaps they should at least inform her of their scheme to marry her off to "Mr. Right" but both Daisuke and Takeru were very sore at her rejecting their candidates and childishly refused to listen to their friend's advice. They went to work brainstorming more potential mates and got into a particularly nasty fight about it one morning. At one point, Daisuke got so irritated that he stormed out of the apartment and Takeru locked himself in his room.

Taichi woke up late that day, having gone out the night before and drunk himself into a stupor, for which his body rewarded him with a pounding hangover headache. Since his bed also doubled as the couch (it was one of those pull-out things), he was awakened by Daisuke's furious slamming of the door and Takeru's slamming of his own door.

He groaned, turning over on his back. Knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now, he sat up and rubbed is eyes, dragging himself to the bathroom.

He heard the shower running and went inside anyway, sleepily scratching his neck.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Mimi called happily from behind the drawn shower curtain, by now far too comfortable with this routine to feel awkward by the situation. This had become the new normal for her, after having lived with three men as roommates for the past five years. "How's the hangover?"

He flushed the toilet in revenge.

She shrieked as the shower water momentarily turned ice cold, and he ducked when the bar of soap flew dangerously past his head, chuckling.

"Serves you right," he said, turning on the sink and waiting for the water to warm up.

"Don't take the consequences of your idiotic choice out on me."

"You should have come with me last night."

"Miyako called. I had dinner at her place."

"Oh, fun."

"Hey, it was, all right? And guess who I saw there?"

"Who?" he mumbled through a mouth full of toothpaste.

"That friend of yours and Takeru—what's his name…Koushiro!"

Taichi paused. "Really?"

"Yeah. He's dating Miyako now. Isn't that cute?"

He made a face into the mirror. What was with girls and seeing cuteness in _everything_?

"Yeah, it is," he lied blatantly, rinsing his mouth. He made a mental note to not tell Takeru about this.

"But I think she's just using him to get Ken's attention, if you ask me," she went on, ignoring his complete lack of interest. "He was there last night, too. Looked miserable the whole time, the poor dear."

Taichi raised an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose if anyone were to understand the woes of single life, it would be you."

"I'm waiting for the right person."

"And while you're waiting, he'll be walking right by you under your very nose."

"Why can't you be supportive?"

"Why can't you be realistic?" he taunted, shaving carefully. He ran the razor under the water, flicking away the foamy cream. "Being a bachelor's not all that bad."

"Not for a guy," she pointed out. "Women have historically suffered the most for being unattached. You get words like 'bachelor' and we get stuck with 'spinster'. How's that for fair?"

He chuckled, refusing to admit aloud that she had a point. But honestly, she was getting carried away. He was a firm believer in the unraveling hand of fate. All right, that wasn't entirely true—he was just lazy. Still, his argument had a believable defense. Maybe he was "alone" now, but if the cosmos wanted him with somebody, they'd find a way to let him know of this eventually. In the mean time, he was going to enjoy himself. There was no harm in having a little fun.

For some reason beyond his comprehension, though, she couldn't see it his way.

Well, to each his (or her) own, after all.

He paused, listening to her hum softly in the shower behind him.

With a sigh, he went back to shaving. "So there's this guy I know."

"Huh?" she asked, distracted.

He raised his voice a little, "There's a friend of mine that I saw again last night. He's in town applying for a job. He's a 'bachelor,' Mimi," he added with a smirk.

"Lucky him," she laughed.

"Anyway, he's a pretty decent guy. A little shy and quiet and easily spooked, but he's friendly. Good with kids. Honest, responsible—,"

"Taichi?" she poked her head around the shower curtain, narrowing her eyes at his reflection in the foggy mirror. "Are you actually trying to hook me up?"

He rolled his eyes. "Interested?"

"In one of _your_ friends?" she asked skeptically, returning to her shower. "I'll take my chances on my own..."

"Well, you played along with Takeru and Daisuke's friends."

"What? When?"

"Koushiro and Michael. Of course, you didn't hit it off right away, but it happens—,"

She stuck her head around the curtain gain, gaping. "You mean, they were—?"

He smirked.

She groaned. "Oh, my God…."

"I think it's only fair you give my guy a chance like you did with theirs."

"I can't believe this! Did you actually plan this out?"

"What do you say?" he asked, drying his face and walking out of the bathroom.

She called angrily, "I am not a toy to be played with like this! I can't believe you three!"

"He's a doctor."

"Just let me get dressed," she said eagerly, turning off the shower.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Takeru and Daisuke were still not speaking to each other and to get away from the suffocating tension filling the apartment as a result, the other two roommates scrambled for an excuse to leave. Taichi phoned Jyou and told he wanted to introduce the man to a special female friend of his, to which the young residency student tried to protest, stuttering all the way.

Taichi managed to convince him with a quick pep talk (along with significant details regarding Mimi herself), and finally Jyou nervously consented to afternoon tea with her.

So Taichi and Mimi left for a small sidewalk restaurant to escape their bickering roommates.

Once they sat down, ordering ice cream cones to eat while they waited, she grilled him for every detail possible about Jyou and what she should expect of him. Taichi tried to answer as much as he could, slightly annoyed by the constant questioning, and finally he got fed up and refused to talk about Jyou anymore. Mimi sulked, irritated, and focused her attentions on the ice cream instead, needing something to calm her nerves.

He eyed her ice cream, comparing the chocolate chip vanilla she'd chosen with the butter pecan in his own hand. He looked back and forth between the two, growing curious.

Clutching his protectively, he leaned towards her cone.

"No!" she exclaimed, pushing him back with a hand on his chest, knowing his intentions. "Mine!"

"Aw, come on, just a taste," he begged.

In a desperate act to claim the treat all her own, she slobbered all over it, swallowed a huge mouthful, and grinned at him. "_Mine_."

He gave her a dirty look and turned back to his own cone.

Happy, Mimi began to lick hers again, quite content, until he suddenly grabbed her hand and ate half of her ice cream in one humungous gulp.

She shrieked, causing several people around them to jump in alarm. She tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't, having far too much fun getting on her nerves. Refusing to lose her comfort food like this, she brought the cone to her mouth and started eating as fast as she could, so as to leave him as little to steal as possible. He retaliated by trying to beat her, licking the other side of the cone.

Then their tongues met.

They separated immediately and heard someone cough.

The entire patio crowd was staring at them.

They jumped out of the chairs, letting go of the ice cream at the same time, and the cone fell to the ground.

"Oh," said Mimi, her cheeks pink, avoiding his equally stunned gaze.

"Taichi?"

They both turned, surprised.

Kido Jyou was shuffling his feet nervously, looking a little pale. He was dressed nicely in a white long-sleeved shirt and dark grey slacks, his blue hair brushed carefully. He kept wringing his fingers, but he managed to stop himself when she looked up and met his gaze, staring blankly.

"And it's Mimi, isn't it?" he asked of her after an anxious moment of silence.

Taichi interrupted, recovering, "Yes—um, Mimi, this is Kido Jyou. Jyou, this is Tachikawa Mimi." He smiled, "Jyou and I went to college together. Mimi is a good friend of mine." Her eyes flickered back to him at his last words, and she returned the smile, relieved and relaxed by his reaction.

Then she grinned at Jyou, sticking out her hand.

"Nice to meet you," she said cheerily.

Jyou still looked apprehensive, glancing at Taichi, who mirrored Mimi's grin and made a very conspicuous gesture of encouragement. So the young residency student stopped fiddling nervously with his glasses and shook the woman's hand, growing more confident with her warm greeting.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone so you can—you know," Taichi winked suggestively and Mimi stuck out her tongue while Jyou's ears turned red. "Have her home by curfew, Kido," he said as a joke. "I know where you live."

Jyou smiled back, grateful.

Mimi waved a dismissive hand, "Go away, Yagami. You're spoiling the mood."

Taichi winked, saying his goodbyes. He took several steps back, watching as Mimi pointed at a table a few feet away and Jyou nodded enthusiastically, smiling. Jyou bounded forth gallantly to pull out the chair for her, and Taichi could tell that impressed her. He smirked, ready to brag about this to Daisuke and Takeru later, and turned away.

And then he walked home, tasting her still.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

After three weeks, Taichi was still gloating.

Takeru and Daisuke tried to ignore him, each secretly hoping that Jyou would turn out to be a perfectly awful person, while at the same time secretly intrigued by Mimi's unexpected attachment to the doctor-to-be.

It was a sort of a mixed bittersweet victory.

And Taichi was careful to rub it in every chance he got:

_So Mimi and my friend Jyou…_

_I think my friend Jyou is coming over for dinner and…_

_My friend Jyou and Mimi sure seem to be hitting it off; lucky I was there to introduce them, wasn't it?_

And so on, and so forth.

Needless to say, after three weeks, Takeru and Daisuke were quickly losing the humor in the situation and had redirected their grudges and resentment to the eldest roommate.

Not that Taichi himself had to be frightened by this turn. He was absolutely certain he could take them both on, anytime, anywhere. At the very least, he could outrun them.

But he had to admit, his daily session of self-praise was getting a bit old.

That, and he couldn't believe it had been three weeks already.

Maybe he shouldn't feel so surprised, but somehow, he was.

But it was easier to ignore these doubts than deal with them, so he swallowed it and carried on blissfully.

It was a few days later when Daisuke landed a major role in a play run by the local theatre, and to celebrate, he wanted to treat everyone to a fancy dinner. They compared schedules and negotiated several times before finally reaching an agreement, and the happy young actor made a reservation for four at a popular, expensive restaurant downtown.

The day of the dinner, however, something unexpected came up where Taichi and Takeru worked. An error had been made in the thousands of pre-ordered novels just released by one of the company's most successful writers, and now everyone was going nuts trying to correct the damage before it got worse. It meant that both roommates were held up at the company for much longer than they expected.

Finally, when Taichi noticed the blond nervously glancing at the clock for the tenth time in two minutes, he told his friend to just go home and that he would meet everyone at the restaurant later. Takeru asked if he was sure, to which Taichi instructed him to not worry and that as soon as everything settled, he'd be right there to celebrate with the others.

So Takeru left and Taichi stayed behind, handling the workload with the help of several other employees who were also working overtime to fix the problem.

It was well past nine in the evening when everything finally seemed to be settling down, and so Taichi's boss dismissed his employees after thanking them for the hard work. It appeared that the crisis had been more or less averted, or at least not as catastrophic as it could have been. Relieved and exhausted, everyone went home.

Taichi's legs hurt from running up and down stairs and standing up all day, but he forced himself to muster up what little energy he had and take the subway downtown.

He had a bit of trouble trying to find the restaurant, since he'd only been there once before, a long time ago. But he followed the directions that Daisuke had sent him earlier that morning in an email and arrived at the right street corner after getting lost only twice, a record for him, seeing as how awful he normally was with directions.

But nonetheless, he'd arrived, and hurriedly walked to the door, stomach growling.

Then he stopped.

Situated on a street corner, the restaurant had clear glass windows that made up most of the wall on two sides. And it was through these windows that Taichi caught a glimpse of his friends, seated at a table in the corner, enjoying the after dinner wine with their desserts just about finished. Daisuke and Takeru sat on one side of the booth, while Mimi and Jyou sat across from them. It was a table for four.

He stood on the sidewalk for a while longer, watching them.

Then he checked his wristwatch and turned around to walk back home, taking the train back to their apartment building.

He had just gotten out of the shower and was rubbing a towel over his damp hair when the door opened. Tripping on the rug, he threw himself on the sofa-bed and scrambled to look comfortable. Grabbing the remote for the TV, he switched it on without thinking and then fell back on the bed, the pure personification of laziness.

Daisuke and Takeru were the first to walk in.

They stopped in the middle of their conversation, eyeing Taichi in surprise.

"Hey," said Daisuke. "I didn't know you were back."

"Yeah, well," Taichi made a half-hearted attempt of explaining, blanked, and gestured at nothing, shutting up.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

Takeru was more concerned, "I though you said you were going to come after work. We were waiting for you."

Taichi bit back the urge to retaliate snappishly, but managed to keep his temper in check. Instead he shrugged, sprawled on the bed in pajama bottoms and an undershirt, still rubbing his hair with the wet towel.

"There was a lot more than I expected, and by the time I was done, I just too tired. You know how it goes." He paused, feeling a little regretful. "But congratulations, Daisuke. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

The actor only smiled back genuinely, holding no grudges. "Thanks. We're going out for drinks at the bar. Want to come?"

Taichi shook his head. "Again, really tired. Sorry."

"Hey, no problem. But you owe me a drink, all right?"

He grinned. "It's a deal."

Daisuke said he was going to change and Takeru went to get a glass of water.

Taichi sat up a little, cautiously eyeing the door.

He leaned towards it, straining his ears, and then quickly dropped back into the bed when the door suddenly opened again and Mimi stepped in, finishing up a call on her cell phone as she did, smiling to herself and completely unaware of his presence.

She closed the door and pulled off her jacket, slipping out of her shoes as well.

When she turned around, she gave a small shriek in surprise, stepping back when she saw Taichi sitting on the bed. Then she shook her head, annoyed.

"You scared me!"

"I've always been here," he pointed out. "I don't see what's so scary about it."

Mimi shot him a look, turning away. "Where were you tonight?"

"Work," he answered shortly.

"Oh, and since when did that get to be more important than your friends?"

He shrugged casually. "Since when did boyfriends get to be more important?"

She stopped, staring at him, surprised.

She opened her mouth, stopped, and then said hesitantly, "Taichi—do you have a problem with Jyou?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. He's my friend, isn't he?"

"Then why—,"

"I saw you," he muttered, interrupting, staring at the TV screen. "Through the window." He lowered his voice with a sigh, "All four of you, having fun."

"Oh, Taichi," she said with a sigh, coming over to him.

He didn't react when she slipped an arm around his shoulders and slipped into the bed next to him. She pulled him into a one-arm hug.

She reassured, "Jyou could never replace you. Don't you dare think for a second that anyone I date would ever replace you. Do you know that I wouldn't even consider going out with someone my friends didn't like? That's how much I need you, Tai. So stop being so silly, okay? You're still my best friend," she kissed the top of his head, smiling. "Like that could ever change…."

And though he felt better, relaxing into her and pleased to note that their friendship wouldn't be affected by the arrival of a stranger, he was caught by surprise by a tiny part of him that felt that much worse by what she'd said.

He shut his eyes, refusing to think about it.

"Guess what?" she whispered in his ear.

He leaned back against the pillow propped up behind him and she went down with him, arms still wrapped around his neck as they lay together.

"You're breaking up with Jyou and marrying me," he joked.

She slapped him playfully upside the head. "Be serious."

He laughed, "Well, I don't know why you think I'd care about anything else…."

She twisted his ear in revenge. "You know that big charity event that the governor is attending next month?"

"Sure," said Taichi. "We did a bit of advertising for them."

She leaned into him, revealing a secret she couldn't keep any longer, "I got the catering job."

He sat up, shocked. "Really?"

"Yes!" she laughed. "Well, almost, but I'm really, really close!"

"Mi—that's wonderful," he grinned and opened his arms to welcome her in a warm embrace.

She jumped at the chance, hugging him tight, thrilled.

"I'm so excited!" she said, still giggling. "The organizer of the event called me on the way home from the restaurant; that's why I was out in the hall on the phone for so long. The planner said they hadn't made it official yet. They still want me to do a sample spread, but the planner said she was most impressed with me out of every other catering company they contacted. Can you believe it? This could be it, Taichi—,"

"I know, I know," he repeated, holding her close, proud.

"And I had to tell you first!" She buried her face in his neck. "I don't ever want to forget this moment!"

He shut his eyes, turning so that his face brushed against her soft hair, fingers wrapping around her waist tightly. "Me neither…."

And it had never felt this good to touch her before.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

"I'm nervous."

"Stop pacing."

"I'm really nervous."

"It's going to be okay—,"

"Will you stop pacing?"

"I'm really, really nervous."

"For the love of God—,"

"You're going to be so amazing—,"

"But I shouldn't be this nervous!"

"Stop pacing!"

"I mean, what if—?"

Taichi leapt to his feet and roughly shoved Mimi down in his seat. Before she could even react, he pushed her all the way to the back of the chair, hands on each side of the armrest, leaning so close his nose was barely an inch from hers.

"Calm down. Breathe," he said in all seriousness.

She shut her eyes.

He bent close to her ear, "And shut _up_."

She whacked him on the forehead. "Sure know how to make a girl feel special, Taichi."

"All right, let's all take a breather, okay?" interrupted Takeru, ever the peacemaker. He checked his wristwatch nervously. "Okay, okay, okay…they should be calling with news any minute now…."

"Is a play-by-play commentary _really_ necessary?" demanded Taichi crankily.

"Why are you so irritable today anyway?" Takeru countered, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not irritable," he glowered. "I'm perfectly happy."

"I need a drink," Mimi groaned, dragging herself out of the chair and into the kitchen.

Takeru waited until she was out of earshot before giving Taichi his best bad-to-the-bone-blond glare.

The latter was offended. "What?"

"Why don't you tell me? For the past week you've been the biggest grouch on the planet and for no apparent reason," he pointed out. "Is it something at work? Because if it is, you know I can help you out with whatever it is—,"

"Nothing's wrong, Takeru," Taichi sighed, annoyed.

"Then could you try and be a little more civil, for Mimi's sake? This is not the best time for _you_ to be pulling a stunt like this."

Taichi didn't say anything, running fingers through thick brown hair.

Takeru shook his head, glancing at his watch again.

He frowned, "They should have called by now…."

"Your nervousness is doing much more to her nerves than my bitchiness," his friend added in revenge. "You really should be a more considerate friend, you know."

The blond shot him a glare, brows furrowed.

Then the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Mimi screamed, tearing out of the kitchen so fast she was like a pretty pink blur to the two roommates who watched on. She scrambled for the apartment home, shouting, "I'm here!" into it before remembering what she was doing in horror and lowering her voice to an apologetic whisper, "I mean, this is Tachikawa Mimi, can I help you?"

Takeru sat forward and Taichi crossed his arms over his chest, frowning.

There was silence as Mimi listened to the caller, her expression full of tense anticipation, trying to be controlled. And then she covered her mouth with her hands.

"I understand. Thank you," she said weakly, before hanging up.

Takeru stood up, not daring to even hope for it.

She looked at him, honey eyes meeting his baby blues.

The doorbell rang and Taichi went to answer it.

Jyou was carrying take-out. "Well?" he asked, stepping into the hallway as Taichi closed the door, looking at her.

She covered her mouth with both hands and shook her head.

"But—?" Takeru tried, only to be interrupted by her high-pitched squeal and another flash of pink as she threw herself at her boyfriend.

Jyou froze, terrified by her sudden attack, and therefore didn't think to protect the food, dropping it on the ground instead and going down with it. She kissed him, taking his thin face in her hands.

"I take it that was a good phone call?" he tried to ask between kisses after every word, smiling, though still a little embarrassed and scared of her.

She hugged him fiercely. "I got it!" she squealed.

Takeru jumped forward to make it a group hug. "That's fantastic! I told you that you have nothing to worry about! I told you!"

Taichi smirked, "If only I had a camera…."

"Solved!" Takeru cried, whipping out his cell phone. "Smile!"

Jyou leaned into her and she wrapped her arms around his and Takeru's shoulders as the blond snapped a picture.

"Hold on, I have to text Daisuke with the good news," he said, hunched over to quickly message the fourth roommate, who was rehearsing for his next play at the theatre and would probably hate being interrupted, but Takeru didn't especially care.

"You realize you all are sitting on our lunch, right?" lamented Taichi, who noticed the spilled cartons of noodles.

"Hey, I'm a chef, aren't I?" Mimi reminded, giggling. "Give me twenty minutes."

"We're out of alcohol, though," remembered Takeru.

"Not true; we've got plenty of beer," Taichi said with absolute confidence.

Mimi wrinkled her nose and Jyou smiled.

"This calls for champagne of the grandest nature," their blond companion insisted. He stood up. "I'll just run and get some really quick. We can't celebrate without it."

"I have wine at my flat," Jyou volunteered.

"Then let's check there first."

"It'd be better to split up though, just in case, so that we don't waste any time," Jyou suggested. "I'll go home and call you, and at the very least bring the wine that I have if it's not good enough."

"I am absolutely sure anything of yours is good enough," teased Mimi, kissing his cheek in amusement when he turned beet red.

Takeru waved a dismissive hand. "All right, all right, you two have your own celebration after ours, okay?" He checked for his wallet and keys, pocketing the cell. "I'm going to go to the store and pick up some flowers and you give me a call when you see what you have, okay, Jyou?"

"Sounds like a plan," he nodded, getting to his feet.

Mimi hugged them both tightly. "Hurry back."

"Want to tag along, Taichi?" Jyou asked kindly.

He shook his head, "Actually, I have a—,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," interrupted Takeru impatiently. "We don't have time for explanations. Just don't get in her way! We need her to be without any distractions if we want this lunch to actually taste good."

"Hey, watch it," Mimi wagged a finger at him. "You have to be nice to me today. I wouldn't have been as nervous if you hadn't been."

Taichi grinned triumphantly. "_Ha_."

Takeru rolled his eyes and left with Jyou, and Mimi went into the kitchen, asking Taichi to clean up the take-out mess. He whined a lot and made a lot of noise to show his annoyance, but she didn't fall for it, too used to his childish antics.

He picked up the bent and creased cartons and tossed them into the garbage.

"I'm proud of you, you know," he said after a brief silence.

He couldn't see her face since she was hidden away in the kitchen, bustling around, and he was still picking up the mess in the hallway. But he did hear her chuckle.

"You're not obligated to be sappy, Taichi. That's Takeru and Daisuke's job."

"And so I don't get one?"

"You are exceptionally irritating sometimes."

"Aha, see, the keyword being sometimes. You like me, admit it."

She came to the doorway of the kitchen, smiling. "Thanks, Taichi. That was sweet, in your own special way."

"And I meant it," he promised, looking at her.

"I know," she said.

He glanced away again, clearing up all the soy packets and chopsticks. "So you and Jyou seem to be…hitting it off."

"Actually, we are," she agreed. "Kind of bizarre, I think, the way it all just feels so…right. You know?" She shook her head. "I'm probably not making any sense, I mean—we've only been dating for a few weeks now, and only officially steady since last week, but—,"

"It's perfect sense," he said with a shrug. "You don't find someone who makes you feel 'right' just any day, after all. And when you do, it's okay to think it's a little insane."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're scaring me with all this philosophical speak."

"I'm moving out."

She stopped, staring.

She opened her mouth, shocked, and then closed it again. Then she shook her head.

"What?" she breathed softly.

He moved past her to throw away the final trash into the kitchen garbage can. "I'm moving out," he repeated simply.

She was silent for so long he was tempted to turn around and see her face, curious about her expression. But he refused to, not willing to risk that, so he kept his back to her instead.

"When?" she asked finally.

"Not for another month or two," he murmured. "But I've been looking around for a while and I think I found a place I like. It's closer to my new job."

She couldn't say anything, so he answered the unspoken question:

"Yes, I got a new job. It's at a business firm downtown. I haven't told anyone yet. I only found out this morning. Which means I can move out and take the job sooner than I originally planned." He paused, thinking. "Salary's much better, let me tell you."

"You've been looking around?" she repeated in s small voice after another silence. "And you never told me?"

He smirked, "I can't tell you everything that happens in my life, Mimi."

"You used to."

"Yes, _used to_, but not anymore. You've got Jyou and I," he paused, "well, I've got a new apartment. Single bedroom. Plus my own bathroom. I can't use the dishwasher and the shower at the same time, but other than that it's in mint condition." He smiled, finally having the will to turn around and face her. "You can come decorate for me, if you want. That's what girls like to do, right?"

Without another word, she spun on her heels and stomped out of the kitchen.

He sighed, going after her. "Mimi—,"

"Don't touch me," she snapped darkly, marching to her bedroom.

But he caught up with her, catching her by the arm and pulling her back. "Mimi, can't we talk about this?"

"Obviously, we can't," she pointed out.

"You can't have expected me to sleep on the couch for the rest of my life," he said, irritated.

"You could have said something, Taichi," she cried. "Something, anything. But no—no, you had to wait until the right moment to throw it all in our faces and then walk right out, like nothing's even wrong!"

"Hey, if I can be happy for you about your new catering job, the least you could do is be happy for me and my new life," he protested.

She stared at him, eyes narrowed. "Fine. I'm happy. Thrilled, even. Have a good life, Taichi. Don't forget to send me a postcard once in a while."

"Mimi, don't be like that," he said lowly.

She shook her head. "You are unbelievable."

"You would have done the same thing."

"What?" she demanded.

"With Jyou. You two are so perfect for each other, then why don't you two just move in together? Just move into his flat and get it over with. We all know it's going to happen. And I can promise you that when you do, I'm not going to throw the kind of hissy fit you insist on having now," he added.

"Let go of me," she said, looking away.

He tightened his grasp around her arm. "Don't be like this."

"And what am I suppose to be like, Taichi?" she laughed bitterly. "What do you want me to say?"

"I know it's sudden," he attempted to console but she interrupted him again.

"Sudden? Try shocking, why don't you? Taichi, this is not a little thing, so please stop making it one, please," she said, shaking her head, eyes closed. "God, this was supposed to be a happy day…."

"Hey, don't do that," he said, pulling her into a close embrace. "This is happy. We both got what we wanted. We both have to make changes in out lives because of it, but that's just how this works. We're both happy with what we have, right? Isn't that enough?"

She said nothing, burying her face in his shoulder.

He held her tight. "Things change, whether we like it or not. But it's always for the best. You'll see." He paused again, smirking. "Besides, you know there was no way I was going to put up with Takeru and Daisuke alone after you and Jyou get married."

She laughed softly. "Don't be ridiculous. We're not getting married."

"You should," he whispered. "You deserve to be happy."

She hugged him tighter, "I already am."

He turned his face to kiss her cheek with a smile. "Me, too."

She lifted her chin to meet his gaze. "You're not getting away with this just yet, though."

"Oh, I'm so scared."

"You better be," she whispered, "because the possibility of letting you go is pretty damn scary to me."

He kissed her cheek again. "Me, too."

She smiled, uncertain, overwhelmed, but in his arms just felt right, for now.

He hesitated, and then kissed her jaw, making a soft trail to her ear.

He heard her breathing becoming shallow and slow, but she didn't pull away, so he didn't stop.

He touched the tip of his tongue to her earlobe, kissing the soft underside of her ear. His mouth traveled up the side of her face, brushing over loose strands of hair and coming to a lingering stop at her temple.

She lifted her chin, looking up into deep chocolate-colored eyes, gaze calm and waiting.

Without a word, he pressed his lips to hers.

A barely audible moan slipped from her open mouth as she welcomed the kiss, tasting his tongue. Her heart rose to her throat, senses dazed. His hands moved down to settle on her shoulders and then her waist, bringing her closer. She slipped arms around his neck, fingers gripping his dark brown curls, pulling herself up to his height. He responded by pressing her back into the hallway wall, kissing hungrily, fiercely.

"Taichi—," she gasped into his mouth, but he silenced the rest of her words with a hard kiss, holding her face in his hands. She tried again, fingers grasping his to push him away, "Tai—,"

"I know," he whispered back.

She opened her eyes.

He held her tight, fingers slowly, wistfully grazing the soft skin of her neck, "I'm not supposed to want you. And you weren't supposed to kiss me back." He touched his forehead to hers, murmuring, "So what are we doing?"

She held her breath, confused and numb.

And then the doorbell rang.

"You don't have to answer," he said, both of them knowing full who it was.

She smiled a little. "Yes, I do," she whispered shakily.

And then he let her go.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

Taichi sat on the floor of his new apartment amid stacks and stacks of recycled cardboard boxes.

Chewing on a lollipop, he set about unpacking each box and sorting through all the junk he'd accumulated over the years, unable to understand how he'd gotten this much stuff living so cramped up in a little flat with three other people for the past five years.

He made piles of important junk, not important junk, somewhat important junk, and what-the-fuck? junk. (Most of the items were categorizing themselves in the last stack, which made him decide to rethink his spending habits a little more.)

Then he opened a crudely shaped clay mug, one of those pottery projects you could make at the walk-in shops and paint and bake and pick-up the next day. He stopped, staring at it, fingers running over the thin glaze. He smiled, remembering that day.

It had been Takeru's idea, sort of to commemorate the addition of their fourth and final roommate. Mimi hadn't wanted to do anything special, but they'd all insisted. So they went out to dinner and afterwards went to the pottery shop to make matching cups for them, neatly labeled with their names to mark their rights to full use of their shared apartment. Daisuke broke his twice before finally succeeding with the third model, and Taichi abandoned any coherent visual patterns in favor of randomly splotching the cup with any colored paint he could get a hold of.

Mimi had seen his half-hearted attempts and demanded that he redo his work, saying he could do much better if he would just put forth a little effort.

When he complained he was too tired and bored to care, she scooted over in her little chair to get closer to him and guided his hands around the paintbrush to trace out a pattern for him to paint. He tried so hard to concentrate on her example, but all he could do was focus on the soft of her skin brushing over his hands, how funny it had made him feel in the pit of his stomach when her face was so close that her breath would tickle his ear.

Over the months that followed, he'd trained himself to put aside those butterflies whenever he saw her, and they'd learned to become close friends.

He didn't even know he still felt that way about her until two weeks ago.

He frowned, running frustrated fingers through his dark brown hair.

Frustrated, he stood up and went to the kitchen to get a drink of water, leaning back against the counter.

That had been one _hell_ of a kiss, though.

All tongue and lips and teeth and hands—it was everything he'd thought it'd be and more.

But it wasn't _supposed_ to be that way.

They'd long since established the unspoken agreement that there was nothing between them and never would be, that their friendship was sacred above all things and that was how they were going to see each other, always.

And that _was_ how he saw her. A friend. One of his best. That was it. There was no more, never would be. That was where the line had been drawn years ago and they had always assumed as much. There had never been any need or desire to think differently.

Except now.

He smacked himself in the forehead angrily. _No, not now! What are you thinking, you _idiot_? This is crazy! _

And there was absolutely _no_ excuse for his thinking this way, for his having acted the way he had that day. The words he'd been stupid enough to say afterwards—God, he was so _stupid_. He wasn't even _himself_. He was just—just out of his mind. That was it.

At least he'd gotten out of there when he had the chance, before things could get really awkward.

Daisuke and Takeru had expressed their own hurt and surprise when Taichi announced he was moving out, but they reluctantly learned to deal with the unexpected change. Taichi felt bad about springing it on them, so he gave them extra copies of the apartment key and invited them to come over whenever they felt like it. Besides, he was going to miss them. They were like his kid brothers.

In fact, they had promised to come over soon to help him unpack, but they were already late.

Using his tongue to play with the lollipop in his mouth, he went to go look for his cell phone, wondering if either of the little idiots had called to explain their very noticeable absence. He found the cell under a pile of shirts dumped on the ground carelessly and flopped down amid the clothes to check for messages.

Calling voicemail, he lay on his back and shut his eyes, waiting impatiently for the first message to start.

"Hey," her soft voice said quietly, and he opened his eyes at once, "are you hungry because I made dinner and I thought I'd come and bring you some, if you want. Just—let me know."

He sat up, staring at the phone in his hand.

Since when did leaving a message on each other's cell become so awkward?

Was this really how it was going to be?

Because he didn't want this.

Before—before what'd happened—she'd never even have bothered to call.

_Dammit_, he thought dejectedly. How could everything have changed so fast after one stupid kiss?

The doorbell rang.

Sighing, Taichi dragged himself up to his feet and lazily made his way to the door, hoping that Daisuke and Takeru would be distracting enough to take his mind off this unexpected turn of events.

Instead, God decided to pull a prank.

It wasn't very funny.

"Jyou," he stated blankly, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth. "This is…a surprise."

His friend smiled and nervously jingled the keys in his pockets.

"Can we talk?" he asked, not skipping a beat.

Taichi's stomach flipped over and he swallowed hard. "Sure."

He gestured for the young residency student to come inside his tiny new flat and closed the door behind him. Taking a moment to breathe deeply and remind himself not to ruin everything like he usually did in awkward situations, he offered Jyou a drink. The man politely declined, gaze passing over the mess of the living room.

Taichi apologized for it, "I'm really slow about these things."

"I don't know, I kind of like it," Jyou smiled. "Messy, chaotic, disordered—it's definitely you."

Taichi smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment."

His friend chuckled. "I knew I could come to you. you always know how to make a friend feel relaxed."

"It's a gift," he shrugged.

Jyou glanced away, shifting on his feet. "But I actually wanted to talk to you about something more serious."

Taichi turned around, dreading what he felt was coming.

"Hey, so are you sure you don't want to drink anything?" he asked, going into the kitchen. "I have a couple of beers, nice and cold—,"

"Taichi, I'm serious. I need to tell you something."

"Or a Coke. I have plenty of soda cans," he went on in a rush.

"It's about Mimi—,"

"Or water? Juice? I'm sure I've got something."

Jyou noticed. He followed Taichi into the kitchen. The latter kept his back turned, not trusting himself to look his friend in the face just now.

"Is something the matter?" Jyou asked, concerned.

Taichi shook his head, breathing shallow.

"You just—you know, I probably should have called first, right? I didn't think that you might be busy or—I'm sorry, this was rude of me—,"

"No, no, Jyou," he interrupted finally. He forced himself to turn around, smiling. "I'm sorry. I was just—this new fridge is a big deal and I was hoping you would let me use it to give you a cold drink."

Jyou laughed. "If it will make you happy."

"It really would."

"Then I think I'll take that Coke."

"Great," said Taichi, reaching into the fridge to fetch two of them.

He guided Jyou back to the living room and kicked aside a couple of boxes to make room for them to sit down on the floor, as he had yet to buy proper furniture.

"So what about Mimi?" he asked casually, hoping this would all be over soon and then the nightmare could end.

Jyou let out a long sigh. "I think…I think I want to break it off with her."

Taichi sat absolutely still, not daring to breathe.

He blinked several times, heart pounding in his chest.

"What?" he said in a low voice.

Jyou couldn't meet his gaze. "I think ending this would be for the best, you know? I really do. And…and I was hoping I could get your advice on how to do it."

He still couldn't speak.

After a long silence, Jyou's gaze flickered to Taichi's expectantly. "So?"

Taichi stuck the lollipop back in his mouth.

"Why?" he asked simply.

Jyou blinked. "What?"

"Why are you doing this, Jyou? You two seemed happy enough. What happened?"

He chewed his lip, "Nothing. I just—," he stopped, hesitating, "I've just come to realize something that I don't think I can change. And if I can't fix it, then there's no point in dragging this out just to end up letting it get worse. Breaking it off now would be the best way to avoid future pain."

Taichi stared at him.

He sucked on the lollipop a little more. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Jyou shut his eyes. "Taichi, I really don't want to argue about this—,"

"Are you even listening to yourself?"

"I've already made my decision."

"Then change it. Jyou, Mimi's crazy about you. Don't you get it?" He leaned forward, emphasizing, "She really cares about you. And I know you care about her. Why are you making something out of nothing?"

Jyou's face was masked, staring hard at the floor.

"It's not from nothing," he muttered finally.

Taichi leaned back again, waiting for him to continue.

Only he hadn't expected to hear what he did.

"There's something about you, Taichi," Jyou said finally, in a quiet and low voice. "Something that makes her…_her_. The way she is when she's with you—I've never seen her like that unless you're around. It's just all so much more…natural."

He paused, shaking his head, "And I don't know if I could reach that kind of relationship. I don't know…if I can give her what she finds in you."

Oh, yeah.

It was official.

The cosmos had personally picked him as the new subject of torture and humiliation.

Taichi opened and closed his mouth several times to reply, but nothing came out.

Finally, he pulled out the lollipop again and said in a hoarse voice, "Jyou, Mimi and I are friends. Good friends. And that kind of relationship takes a long time to get to what it is now. And it's not the kind of relationship you can compare to what you two have."

He lowered his voice, speaking calmly, "Jyou, trust me. You don't want to let her go. She's…she's perfect for you."

He took a deep breath and continued, "So don't tell me that you're going to give up because you're scared you're not good enough for her. That's not a reason to do anything. You don't get to make that kind of decision. Only she does. And she has. When she picked you, Jyou, she made that decision. The least you can do is to respect her enough to want her back, to make the most of this chance to be with her."

Jyou was quiet, still staring at the ground, poking at the frayed carpet with a finger.

Taichi slowly got to his feet. "So don't…let her go yet. Not yet."

Jyou still said nothing, thinking hard, and Taichi couldn't stand it any longer and went to the kitchen again.

Safely away from the other man's gaze, he braced himself against the kitchen counter and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. He shut his eyes, gritting his teeth.

It was true.

Everything he'd said.

When you meet a girl like that, you don't get scared that you might not be good enough.

She wants you and you want her back.

And you never let go.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU 

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

"You know what your problem is, Mimi?" 

Conversations that started that way never ended well.

"You don't have any girlfriends."

She raised an eyebrow. "I have you."

Inoue Miyako licked the ice cream clean off her plastic spoon and shook her head knowingly. "I live at least two hours away from you and never see you more than once or twice a month. That's all well and good, these visits, but you need constant female companionship."

Mimi wrinkled her nose. "I don't think—,"

"I know what I'm talking about," Miyako insisted. "You hang out with those…those _boys_ too much. That's not right for a girl, mentally speaking. You'll snap one day, or worse. You have to have a good girlfriend who'll be there to save your sanity—and more than once in a while like I do."

She just smiled, knowing it was pointless to argue with Miyako.

Instead, she returned to her ice cream, swirling the mushy, melting mess with her spoon half-heartedly.

And the second she brought it to her lips, she could taste him.

She flinched on instinct and immediately put the dessert down.

Ice cream was bad for her anyway.

Had to watch those calories.

She shut her eyes, angry.

Oh, this was so _stupid_.

"Something wrong?"

She started, surprised. "What?"

Miyako was eyeing her suspiciously. "You were making that face that you get when you're mad about something. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied blatantly, shaking her head in embarrassment.

Miyako wasn't persuaded in the slightest, eyebrow arched.

"I'm fine," Mimi insisted. "I was just—thinking about the work I have to do for that event. It's next week. I'm nervous."

Her friend didn't appear entirely convinced, but she didn't say anything more.

Mimi was grateful for that at least, sitting back in her chair with a sigh, looking away.

She hated to think this might be becoming a problem.

It wasn't as if she—that is, he wasn't—they couldn't—it was—

It was just _stupid_.

How long had they'd known each other?

Years. Literally.

They'd gone through almost anything friends could, and they'd made it through them all.

So why couldn't they make it through this one?

It was just a simple case of miscommunication.

Jokes and teases that went too far.

Except that last one had definitely been…something else.

She shivered, biting her lip.

She _had_ to be the world's worst girlfriend.

Jyou was just so wonderful and sweet. He always knew what she wanted before she could know it herself, and he knew what to say and when to do the right things. He was affectionate and loveable but knew when to keep his distance. He was awkward and clumsy and boyishly cute that way. He was nervous and confident, and when she was near him, she just felt _safe_.

Taichi just made her…confused.

All he had to do was brush his hand over her skin, and her heart would pound so fast she was sure the whole world could hear it, and that was a feeling that she just wasn't supposed to get from her best friend.

Boyfriend, yes.

Boy who would wrestle and keep her pinned to the living room floor just to get control of the television remote, who would interrupt calls to her parents to order take out, who would take her umbrella and wash his red jersey with her white skirt and walk in on her showering to flush the toilet and scare her—no.

Boyfriend, yes.

Boy who would end five years of a perfectly platonic friendship with a perfectly un-platonic kiss, no.

Boyfriend, yes.

Boy who was just a friend—no, no, _no_.

"Okay, something really is wrong," Miyako said suddenly. "Are you going to tell me or not?"

Mimi sighed again. "It's not that big of a deal—,"

"Obviously, it is!"

"Miyako—,"

"Something's not wrong with Jyou, is it?" she interrupted worriedly. "I thought you two were getting along really well, aren't you?"

"No—I mean, yes, nothing's wrong," Mimi said. "Really, there isn't. Jyou is…I'm lucky to have him, and you know I mean it."

Miyako nodded.

"So nothing's wrong," she added finally.

"Liar."

"Miyako!"

"Fine, don't tell me."

"I'm just—there are problems with roommates and it's not even that big of deal because it's all been settled now and so I've got nothing to be bothered about. Really, nothing," she added, knowing painfully well how awful she sounded when she rambled mindlessly like she just did. She sighed, irritated. "And that's all I'm saying."

Miyako pondered with eyes narrowed.

"I knew it," she said. "I knew it; I knew it."

"What?"

"It's like I said—you don't have any girlfriends. And you need some. I think it's high time you move out of that flat, if you ask me—,"

"What?" Mimi repeated, shocked. "No! That's—I can't do that—,"

"Mimi, you are in an intimate relationship with a man you truly care about, and who truly cares about you. You should be with _him_, not with three obnoxious boys who—,"

"Two," she corrected in a low voice. "It's just the three of us now."

Miyako was surprised. "Yeah?"

Mimi poked at the ice cream again, sad. "Taichi got a new job. Moved out and everything."

Her bespectacled friend pursed her lips. "Well. Good for him."

"Yeah."

"I always thought he'd be the first to do that, come to think of it."

She glanced up, curious and surprised. "You did?"

Miyako nodded. "Taichi always struck me as the easily bored type, you know? Like if he really wanted something, he'd get it. If he wanted to put forth the effort, he'd have the ambition to do it. But only if he really wanted something, like _really_. I never thought of him as the type to just give up. So I'm not surprised he's moving on to better things. I think it means he's finally realizing it, too, don't you think?"

Mimi just stared at her, breathing shallow.

"Excuse me," she stammered finally, before Miyako could say another word, and jumped to her feet to throw away the rest of her ice cream.

"But—?" her friend tried to say, confused.

"I just—realized something I forgot to do—um, I'll meet you for dinner, right? My treat—just call me at seven, okay?"

"I—,"

"Great!" Mimi chirped, turning on her heels to rush to the subway station.

She scrambled for the right change, grabbing the ticket and diving into the first compartment by the stairs. Pressing into the back of the crowd, she held on tight to the side railing, gripping hard. She shut her eyes.

Right.

You really want something, you do it.

No giving up.

You realize something and you don't ignore it.

_Right_.

"Ow," she heard someone near her say, and she opened her eyes.

A young woman with short red hair and pretty hazel eyes was lodged into a cramped space near her, the passenger on the right almost suffocating her.

Feeling empathy, Mimi leaned forward and gently pulled her out by the arm.

The woman smiled in thanks. Mimi smiled back.

The subway finally came to the right stop and she squeezed her way through the doors, scampering up the stairs and winding her way around and through the monotonous crowd. She nearly had to fight her way to the doors, but she made it finally, pausing to adjust her clothes and purse before walking quickly down the street.

Wondering vaguely why it didn't surprise her that he just had to move to the least accessible part of the city, she found the apartment building after several failed tries, only to discover the elevator shaft was broken.

Groaning silently, she took the stairs, all eleven flights of them.

She cursed him with every step.

By the time she reached his floor, she had to stop at the beginning of the long hallway and catch her breath, bent over, her purse dragging on the ground. She kicked off her shoes, not caring about sanitary conditions, only about the impossibly aching soreness of her soles. Then she began to limp down the hall, wheezing, heart pounding.

And then her heart started pounding for a completely different reason when she found his door.

She stopped, staring at the cracked and chipped paint, long overdue for a remodeling work.

She shut her eyes, breathing hard.

What the hell was she doing here?

Barely able to stand, she leaned forward and let her forehead fall with a loud bang on the door, gritting her teeth.

What the fucking hell was she doing here?

The door opened and she flew forward.

Taichi caught her on instinct, arms holding her around her upper torso awkwardly, expression confused and surprised.

She stared at him, hanging there in his arms, looking straight up into his wide brown eyes.

"Shit," she gasped.

He raised an eyebrow, amused by her uncharacteristic display of language. Usually, it was him doing the swearing at the random moments. Maybe they'd been friends too long.

"Want to tell me what you're doing here?" he asked quietly.

"Not really," she answered, sincere and just as soft-spoken.

"Then you want to get off me? You're really heavy."

"Don't call me fat," she said.

He smiled a little. "Okay."

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Tell me to go home."

"What?" he frowned, taken aback.

"Tell me I'm crazy and that—that I'm out of my mind and that I'm wrong."

He didn't reply, holding her tighter.

"Tell me," she whispered.

He pulled her up, so that now she was standing straight, pressed close into his chest. She clutched his shirt in her fists, hands shaking.

"Tell me it didn't mean anything," she said finally.

"It didn't mean anything."

She smiled weakly. "Now tell me you're lying."

He shook his head, pushing her away. "Mimi, stop. Just go home."

She shoved him back violently.

"Why'd you have to do that anyway?" she demanded, angry. "Why'd you go and pull something stupid like that? How could you do this to me? How could you—and _now_! God, Taichi, do you have any idea what—how could you do that to me? You had no right—no right at all and you—,"

"Mimi, go home," he interrupted forcefully, unusually calm.

She hated it.

"What you did wasn't fair," she said, chin trembling. "It wasn't fair. It wasn't."

"I know," he murmured. "I'm sorry. Okay? I can't—I can't explain it, I can't tell you why—I don't want to—I just—I'm _sorry_."

"It wasn't fair then and it's not fair what it's still doing to me, Taichi, because it shouldn't be doing anything—and yet all I can do is stand here yelling at you when all I really want to do is just—," she stopped, holding her breath.

He was silent.

They stayed that way for a long time.

Then he rubbed his face, so she couldn't see his expression. "Go back to him, okay?"

"It was a stupid kiss," she reminded.

He nodded. "Very stupid."

"It didn't mean anything."

"Nothing," he agreed.

"You were just—we just weren't thinking. We were being stupid."

"Yes."

She held her breath, "So I can walk away and not think about it anymore, because this is us resolving it—what we're doing now, and that means it's all over—even though there was nothing to be begin with in the first place because it was stupid anyway, right?"

He just nodded again.

She folded her arms over her chest. "Good."

"Good."

"It's resolved."

"Very."

"Good."

"Great."

"Fine."

"All right."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

She suddenly grasped his face in her hands, yanking him down for a kiss, but just as her lips first brushed ever so lightly over his, they were interrupted.

"Taichi?" a voice called from down the hall.

He tore himself away at once, left her standing frozen in the doorway, horrified with herself and what she had just almost done—_again_.

God—what the hell was she _doing_?

How could she _do_ this?

What kind of a person was she?

She turned around.

The woman from the subway had her arms around Taichi's neck, hugging him tight, laughing.

And all Mimi wanted to do was cry.


	7. Chapter 7

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU 

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

"Where's the shampoo?" 

"Out."

"Conditioner?"

"Out."

"Shower gel?"

"What?"

"Soap?"

"Out."

Takenouchi Sora stepped away from the bathroom, "Okay, then, the shower can wait…."

Her childhood friend was lying on his stomach in front of the TV, having not bothered with buying a couch to sit on when there was a perfectly valid need for a huge television set. The priority had been evidently clear.

With a smirk, she flopped down on top of him, ignoring his groan of protest. She rolled over and lay beside him, chin propped up by an elbow. She studied him carefully.

Scooting closer, she nudged him friendlily in the shoulder with her chin. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He didn't glance at her, transfixed by the football match on the screen.

"Taichi," she murmured. "What's the matter? Something's bothering you, I can tell."

"I'm fine," he muttered back, sounding very much like he wasn't at all.

She rolled over on her stomach, still watching him.

"Are you going stare at me all day?" he grumbled nearly five minutes later when she still hadn't moved.

"Yes," she said smartly.

He rolled his eyes and pushed himself up to sit on the floor. She did likewise, touching a hand to his forearm.

"Nothing is wrong," he dismissed firstly. "I'm not dying, I don't have some incurable disease, I'm not anything like that. So stop worrying."

She wrinkled her nose, amused. "Aha."

He raised an eyebrow. "Aha, what?"

"I've figured you out."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not very hard to read," Sora laughed. "I know when something's bugging you, Taichi, when you're thinking about something…or someone."

He stared at her, bewildered.

She leaned forward, teasing, "You wear your heart on your sleeve, Taichi. You always have, always will."

He was still speechless, breath hitched in his throat.

She didn't notice the stunned, anxious look on his face.

"So who is she?" she asked instead.

Blinking several times, he managed to recover and turned his face away. His heart was pounding in his chest, but when he shut his eyes to calm himself, all he could remember and taste was Mimi's soft lips on his.

Shivering, he sat up straight and moved away.

"You're not going to tell me who she is?"

Recovered now, Taichi shook his head with a smirk. "Shut up."

"What's her name?"

"Knock it off, I mean it—,"

"Come on, Taichi, you were never good at keeping secrets from me."

"It's not important," he insisted, going into the kitchen.

"You can't even tell me about her?" she protested. "I'm your friend! We're supposed to tell each other all our dirty, nasty secrets!"

"Sorry to disappoint, Sora, but I'm as clean as they come."

She raised both eyebrows, not convinced, as he returned from the kitchen with two soda cans.

"Well, then who was the girl at the door?"

"What?" he coughed on his drink.

She smirked, "When I came in this morning. Remember? You were with that girl. She looked kind of familiar to me, I thought, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. She's awfully pretty though, so I'm wondering if maybe I—,"

"Her name is Mimi," he muttered, face uncharacteristically stoic.

She stared at him, surprised.

"Her name is Mimi," he repeated for no reason.

With a sigh, Sora got to her feet and went to him, lacing fingers through his as she held his hand. "Do want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he whispered back.

She nodded, "Okay."

But when she started to pull away to respectfully leave him alone, he wouldn't let go of her hand. He was upset. She could tell just by how his fingers clutched hers so tightly. And she saw it on his face now, hidden in his dark brown eyes.

He shook his head, "It's stupid."

"It's never stupid, Taichi," she promised.

He didn't answer.

"Do you like her?" she asked gently.

"I don't know."

"Okay."

She waited for him this time, knowing he'd talk when he was ready.

A few minutes later, he added, "But it doesn't matter anyway. She's with someone else."

And now Sora understood. Sympathetic, she squeezed his hand and said nothing, keeping silent so he could sort out his thoughts.

"I don't know what to do, Sora."

"Does she have feelings for you?"

He hesitated. It was an obvious pause, but she did not point it out. "I…don't think so." He sighed, "I don't know. Sometimes I—but then she—,"

"But she's aware of how you feel?"

He fidgeted. "Sort of."

"Oh, Taichi," Sora sighed, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," he mumbled into her hair, like he was trying to assure himself more than her. "And I don't even see her as often, you know? Because of this new job and the new flat. She's happy with her life, and I'm happy with mine. It's all fine, really. Nothing else to remember."

Sora pulled back a little, looking into his face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "I'm fine, Sora. Don't worry about me."

"Well, I do. You're just that kind of person, Taichi. When you do something, you put your whole heart in it. Of course, I'm going to worry about this."

"It's over," he reminded. "I made sure of it, today. Told her it was over and everything."

"But you're not over her, Taichi," she murmured. "You don't have to pretend for me."

He sighed, turning away to slump down on the floor again, sitting detachedly.

"I'm not pretending," he protested weakly.

She rolled her eyes, sitting next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Come here."

He submitted willingly, leaning so that the top of his head tucked comfortably into the crook of her neck. She brushed his hair back, kissing his forehead.

"It's okay," she assured. "You're allowed to feel sad for a while."

"I feel like shit."

Sora chuckled, "That, too."

* * *

Unbeknownst to either of them, in her apartment across town, Mimi was feeling just as shitty. 

It didn't help any that her wonderful boyfriend was attempting to make up for not having been so wonderful the past couple of days. He explained sheepishly that he'd been having some reservations about their relationship, and in a very point blank way that was awfully uncharacteristic of him, blurted out that he loved her.

He stood there at the door to the apartment, looking so pale she feared he would faint any second.

And he was waiting for her to respond.

Her mind completely blank, she stammered out a "Me, too" and that was that.

But the funny thing was, the moment she said it, she knew it was true.

She did love Jyou.

She couldn't understand why she never realized it before this, but it clearly didn't matter anymore.

She'd said it (more or less), and she'd meant it.

It amazed her, though she knew she shouldn't be as astonished with herself as she was.

She'd known for a long time that this something she had with Jyou was different than the somethings she'd had with other men. It felt different, tasted different, looked different. She never could explain it, until at last he told her the words no other man's ever said to her, and she realized that it was true.

She was in love with Tai—

_No!_

"I don't think I'm doing this right," Jyou's worried voice distracted her from her horrific thoughts, and she looked up, dazed.

It was dinnertime, and with Takeru and Daisuke out for the day, Jyou had come over.

Of course, he'd come over with the only intention of telling her he loved her, and now that it had all worked out favorably for him, he had decided to stay and treat her to dinner. It was his way of saying sorry for being so off and detached the past days when he was trying to sort out his feelings for her, but now that they were, he was back to his normal, cheerful, lovably clumsy ways.

She went to him, realizing that the source of frustrations was trying to crack eggs without dropping any parts of the shells into the omelet mix he was attempting to make.

Smiling in amusement, she took one egg and demonstrated.

"You just tap it gently with a fork, and then pull it apart carefully, like this." The egg yolk slipped right through and into the plastic bowl and she smiled at him. "See?"

He was skeptical, fiddling with his glasses the way he always did when he was concentrating on something he didn't quite understand.

She loved the face he made, the way his nose would scrunch up in skepticism. He looked so adorable then.

Giggling, she balanced herself on her toes to kiss his cheek affectionately. She paused, fingertips running over the stubble on his jaw.

He shrugged sheepishly, "Busy morning."

"I like it," she said.

"Really?" he seemed surprised, but shyly pleased by the compliment.

"Sure," Mimi smiled back. "Makes you look…" she trailed off, trying to think of the right word. Somehow, she felt _sexy_ might push him over the edge, so instead she opted for, "older. In an attractive kind of way," she added for clarification.

He seemed to have picked up on the very specific undercurrent of her statement and he blushed a little.

She changed the subject, offering, "I can make dinner."

"No, I want to," he insisted. "I'm going to get this right."

"Really, Jyou, at your rate we'll be here all night—,"

"Then I'll stay all night," he replied casually, determined to learn how to cook.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she asked after hesitating only slightly, "Then why don't you?"

He glanced at her, face blank.

For someone as smart as he was, he was incredibly clueless sometimes.

Feeling the heat creep up her neck, she tried to shake away the embarrassment and asked him point blank, just as he did earlier at the door, "Jyou, will you stay the night with me?"

He knew instantly what she meant.

His glasses slipped right to the tip of his nose as his eyes widened in shock. "Y-you mean—?"

"Don't we love each other?" she asked.

"Well—y-yes, but—,"

She slipped an arm around his waist, pressing close against him. "So then, why not take the next step?"

He blinked several times as she waited nervously for his response.

"Are you sure?" he asked finally.

She nodded.

Then Jyou nodded. "Okay," he whispered.

"Okay," she whispered back.

He paused, then bent down to kiss her. It was warm and sweet, gentle and careful. But she didn't want to be kissed affectionately—she wanted him to mean it.

So she kissed him back, hard, taking his face in her hands.

She could tell it caught him by surprise, but then he started to respond and she found herself surprised, too.

And when he suddenly pulled her close, arms around her waist, she let him hold her tight, curious by his unexpected display of possessiveness and dominance, qualities she'd never seen in him before. But then, maybe he'd wanted to kiss her like this for a long time, but he'd just been waiting for her to let him.

She tugged his glasses off and left them on the counter, turning to wrap her arms around his neck, giving him full permission to let his mouth roam down the side of her face to her neck.

He pushed her back against the counter, again surprising her, and the bowl of raw egg yolk collided with her elbow and crashed to the ground. It spilled its contents all over her shirt, and she cried out in dismay, pushing away from him.

Jyou was deeply upset by the accident, probably thinking it was his fault.

"Here," he said, reaching to pick up the upturned container, but she caught his arm and pulled him back.

"Leave it," she breathed, taking his face in her hands and kissing him fiercely.

He protested in her mouth, distracted, "But your shirt—,"

She solved the problem by separating herself from his arms and pulling her now dirtied shirt off, tossing it aside.

"Oh," was all he could say, ears red as he stared. Then, realizing in horror that he was gaping stupidly and openly at her, he shook his head and tried to say in a strange voice, "Mimi, maybe we shouldn't—,"

"—do this here?" she finished for him. "You're right. Come on," she grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the kitchen. He stumbled after her, too numb to offer any resistance, until he managed to grab a hold of the doorpost to her room and haul himself back.

He held his breath, "Mimi, what's going on?"

She turned around, breathing deeply. She looked confused. "What?"

"What's going on?" he repeated. Then he lowered his voice, "I know something is. I know you, Mimi." He hesitated, "I don't want to do this if something's wrong."

Mimi stared at him, trying to catch her breath.

Of course, nothing was wrong.

Nothing was going on with her.

She wanted to be with the man she loved.

Shutting her eyes for a moment, she swallowed hard and then said, "The only thing wrong, Jyou, is your being over there when I'm over here." She took several steps back, stopping only when she felt her mattress hitting the backs of her legs. She sat down on the bed and waited, eyes never once leaving his face.

He looked like he wanted to say something else, and for one terrible second, she was scared he could see right through her.

But all he did was step inside the room and shut the door behind him.

That night, her heart began to change.

And she knew she could never forgive herself for lying in his arms while he slept and letting her thoughts wander to the one person she had no business dreaming about.


	8. Chapter 8

**A Woman's Worth**

* * *

Always being the bridesmaid and never the bride is getting Mimi down, so her three less than dependable roommates decide to take matters into their own hands. AU

**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Including the title. "A Woman's Worth" is a song by the lovely and talented Alicia Keys.

**Author's Note**: Last chapter! Thanks for the reviews.

* * *

_She walks the mile; makes you smile, all the while being true_

_Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you_

_You will lose, if you choose, to refuse to put her first_

_She will and she can find a man who knows her worth_

"A Woman's Worth" by Alicia Keys

* * *

Taichi had done his best to avoid his old apartment for as long as possible. Whenever Daisuke or Takeru called up, he managed to discreetly convince them to meet any where else. And it worked well. Neither of them had really suspected anything.

And then Jyou called him one day, out of the blue.

Well, it really wasn't that out of the blue. His gut had been telling him he'd probably be getting this call really soon. Eight months since he'd introduced them, and to his ashamed and guilty horror, he still kept hoping he'd be proven wrong.

But apparently, matchmaking was his hidden talent.

Go figure.

So he'd answered the call and was enthusiastic and proud and supportive, when all he really wanted to do was—

Best not to think like that.

Then he made up some stupid excuse about an appointment he'd forgotten about and hung up the phone.

He went out, got wasted, picked up a girl, left her in the cab, threw up in the toilet, and stayed up all night listening to Mimi's voice on his voicemail over and over, never getting sick of the way she said his name. It was pathetic, he knew, pining after a girl he could never have, a girl who was perfectly in love with one of his best friends. It made him sick to think he couldn't let her go, and though a part of him was ready for that step, another part just couldn't help wondering what might have been.

That was the worst part about regrets, he realized, but this one was especially hard. If only he had the chance to explain himself to her, had the chance to tell her once and for all and be done with it. Then maybe moving on wouldn't be so hard.

He woke up the next morning, still sprawled on the bathroom floor, to his apartment phone ringing.

Groaning, he stumbled to his feet and dragged himself to the living room, only to be greeted by a painfully cheery co-worker who asked if he was ready for their business trip that night. It took Taichi several moments to figure out what the man was talking about, and then the realization hit him like a smack across the face.

Considering the escape a saving grace from God, he agreed to meet his colleague at the airport later for their evening flight to Hong Kong.

He was packing when the doorbell rang.

Distracted, it took him a few moments to answer, but he finally did.

Daisuke and Takeru were standing there, looking annoyed. "You were supposed to meet us for lunch!" they accused at the same time, voices in unison.

He rolled his eyes and turned away. "Not now, guys. I've got a business trip—,"

"Where?" Takeru demanded at once.

"Hong Kong. It's only for a few days. I'll be back by the end of the week, and we'll have lunch then, my treat."

That did little to appease them, but he didn't have the time to offer anything else.

"Well, Mimi's off work today. Can't we all just have coffee or something before you go to the airport? You have time for that, don't you?"

"I can't," he protested, wincing at the mention of her name. He didn't want to think about her. Well, he didn't want to think about her anymore at least, and it was becoming too hard these days to avoid it. He needed a break, some time apart. "I can't help it, Dais. It's my job. And if—,"

"What's with that job anyway?" Takeru grumbled resentfully, still sore that his friend had since abandoned him at the publishing company because of this career change. "How is it that whenever we have time to get together for fun, something always comes up?"

"That's not true," Taichi shook his head. "I went with you to that football match, remember?"

"Well, yeah…but—,"

"And how about that time when we—?"

"Yeah, that's fine with one or two of us, but the four of us have never done anything together in weeks!" Daisuke interrupted.

Taichi shrugged, dragging his suitcases to the door. "Well, she's in a relationship now. You can't expect her to have all the time in the world."

"No, but whenever she does, you always have something going on," the young actor muttered, frustrated.

At his words, Takeru went strangely silent, blue eyes studying Taichi carefully.

Then he said, "That is weird, don't you think?"

"What?" Taichi asked, distracted.

Takeru explained casually, "How you're always so busy with work when she's free, and how you're free when she's got another catering event."

"Oh, yeah?" he mumbled. "Weird."

Takeru stared at him. Then he sighed, "It's not that weird, Taichi."

His friend didn't reply.

By this time, Daisuke seemed to have picked up on the fact that he was missing something. He glanced between the two of them, curious. "What? What's not weird?"

Takeru ignored him. He asked Taichi quietly, "How long?"

But Taichi just shook his head, not willing to have a repeat of his conversation with Sora weeks earlier. "Just drop it, Takeru."

The blond wouldn't. He stood up and went to the bedroom to watch Taichi finish zipping up his laptop and lock his briefcase. Daisuke immediately followed, still annoyed that he couldn't understand what was happening.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Taichi snapped back irritably. "Drop it, Takeru, I mean it."

"Taichi," his friend continued seriously, "God, why the hell didn't you just _say_ something?"

"Say what?" Daisuke cried, hopelessly lost.

"Because it won't work!" Taichi insisted, stomping back to the living room. "It's not supposed to work! It's not going to be anything, so it's never going to mean anything, and it won't ever be anything—so for God's sake, Takeru, just leave it the fuck alone!"

Takeru said nothing, scowling.

Daisuke followed Taichi out. "Is this about—?"

"Yes, Daisuke, yes, it is," Taichi exploded on him. "I'm in love with Mimi—there, I said it. Happy? Good. Now get out. I have a flight to catch." And he left them in the living room to change his clothes.

Takeru was still silent and Daisuke was gaping openly.

"Did he just say what I thought he said?" he demanded of his blond friend.

"Shit," Takeru muttered, shaking his head.

"How could we not see that?" Daisuke cried, throwing his hands up in the air theatrically.

Taichi returned from his room then, sharply dressed in a casual black business suit and ready for his short trip. He barely even glanced at the two of them, still visibly angry. He gathered his bags from the doorway and checked to make sure he had the wallet and plane tickets.

"Taichi—," Daisuke tried sympathetically, but was quickly cut off by Takeru, who shook his head at him.

"Get the mail for me while I'm gone," their friend muttered lowly, shutting the door behind him.

Takeru sighed.

"Man…" Daisuke shook his head.

"Tell me about it," Takeru agreed.

They looked at each other.

Then Daisuke pulled out his cell phone. "You want to tell her, or should I?"

* * *

Mimi barely managed to make it through the cab ride without biting off the head of the driver, who had to be in some kind of competition of the slowest drivers in Tokyo. He was clearly winning. But they finally made it to the airport, and she paid him hastily, probably more than she should have, but she didn't care.

She ran into the airport lobby, skimming the monitors and recognizing his flight number finally.

Praying to God she wasn't too late, she ran through the aisles, pushing past the crowd and raising quite a bit of a fuss whenever she got delayed by an annoying traveler who just wouldn't move out the of way.

She stumbled up the escalator, taking it two steps at a time, until she nearly tripped on the top step and almost fell. She caught the railing just in time, colliding with the man in front of her. She apologized profusely, then snatched off her heels and clutched them in her hands for the rest of her frantic race to the terminals.

Then she found the gate.

The lounge was empty.

The doors were closed.

She stood there, in front of the ticket desk, staring at the empty space. Through the window, she could see the plane slowly rolling back. Snapping out of her daze, she ran to the window and banged on the glass.

"Wait!" she yelled. "Wait! Stop! Stop the plane, stop!"

But the pilots couldn't see her, and they certainly couldn't hear her, no matter how much she banged and yelled. With a defeated cry, she sank to the ground and sat on the floor, watching helplessly as the plane made its way to the runaway.

She shut her eyes, leaning forward, shoulders slumped, and her forehead hit the glass softly.

As soon as Daisuke had told her, she was at the apartment door, ready to drop everything to stop Taichi and tell him—and tell him—

_Tell him what?_

What was there left to say?

She groaned, face in her hands. God, she had made such a mess of things. She was so stupid, so pathetic—and it was all her fault. She was blind to have never seen what Taichi could have meant to her until it was too late, and she was so in love with Jyou there was no denying that he meant something to her, too.

She'd never meant to hurt either of them, and yet here she was.

Everything was just—

"Mimi?"

His voice took the breath right out of her chest, and she whirled around, inadvertently smacking into the window now behind her.

Taichi was standing in front of her, looking puzzled and concerned. "What are you doing?"

She stared at him, then gasped, looking wildly back at the now absent plane. "You—aren't you—isn't that—?"

"No, my gate's over there," and he pointed across the aisle to a lounge full of people getting ready to board a flight to Hong Kong.

She felt remarkably stupid. "Oh."

He was eyeing her suspiciously. "Are you okay?" He looked around. "Where's Jyou?"

She shuddered, wincing. Surrendering herself to fate, she explained quietly, "Jyou's not here."

"I can see that," Taichi rolled his eyes. "Did he go to the bathroom or something?"

"No, Taichi," she shook her head. "He's not _here_."

Somehow, he managed to understand.

He said nothing, staring at her with an unreadable expression.

Then he stepped back. "Mimi, what did you do?" he asked in a pained voice.

"I had to," she whispered. "You were going to leave me."

"Mimi, he's in love with you," he said almost desperately. "You can't do this to him—,"

"But I can do it to you?" she countered.

He shook his head. "I have to go—,"

Panicked, she shot to her feet and grabbed his arm. "Taichi, don't go—please, I lov—,"

He immediately covered her mouth with his hand and smiled weakly. "Don't tell me that. Don't make me change my mind."

She pulled his hand down and held his fingers to her cheek. "He's going to ask me to marry him," she whispered.

Taichi glanced away, not trusting himself to look up. "I know."

"I'm going to say yes."

He nodded. "I know."

"Unless," she hesitated, chewing her lip, "unless you tell me to say no. I will if you tell me, Taichi."

He smiled. "Don't put that on me, Mimi. That's not fair."

"I know…," she said, trembling.

"You're going to be happy with him."

"I know."

"He'll be everything you've ever wanted."

"I know."

"He's your perfect match."

"I know."

"And he's not me."

She touched her forehead to his, "No, he isn't."

"No, he isn't," he repeated softly. "No, he isn't."

"You could've been him."

"And you could've been happy with me," he murmured, not regretfully, but just wistfully, remembering.

"Maybe."

"Maybe I could've been more than you've ever wanted."

"Maybe."

"Maybe I could be your perfect match," he whispered.

She smiled. "Maybe."

"But I'm not him." He pushed back, realizing even as he said it how profoundly true it was. He smiled back, "And I shouldn't be."

She shook her head. "Don't say that. Don't say that—don't—,"

He tried to pry her fingers off. "I have to go, Mimi—,"

"Don't say that—Taichi, don't stop—,"

"Mimi, I have to go," he insisted gently.

She was crying, "Tai—,"

"No," he said at once, knowing exactly what was in her mind. He took her face in his hands and said, "Mimi, this is it. Okay? Everybody has to go their separate ways, everybody has to say goodbye sometime."

She nodded, knowing he was right but unable to say anything.

He lowered his voice, "I know we could have been something. And it would've been amazing, Mimi, and everything, but it's not. Everybody has one moment in their life when they look back and wonder what might've been, but that's the price we pay. And maybe I could have loved you once, but he loves you now, more than I ever could. So we can't keep holding on, holding back, when something changes, when things stop being the same. Sometime, we've got to learn to let go, or else all of this would have been for nothing."

"All of what?" she gasped. "We never even found out what this was, what it could be—,"

"We're not supposed to, Mimi," he interrupted firmly. He hesitated, then went on carefully, "Maybe in another time, another life, this could have happened. Maybe if we'd seen it sooner, maybe—I don't know. But it doesn't matter now—,"

"No," she shook her head. "Don't tell me this doesn't matter, that none of it mattered. It meant something, Taichi, even if this is all it'll ever be, right now, right here. Tell me it meant something, that it still does. Even if this is how it ends, Taichi, tell me just _once_ you wished it didn't."

He shut his eyes, "Mimi—,"

"Tell me," she whispered.

He kissed her, softly at first, chastely, and then with more earnest, tongue teasing into her mouth and his fingers in her hair, as though he was at last realizing what this meant, that it wasn't the way people kiss with desire, but the way lovers kissed goodbye. She could taste it, taste the end even knowing it never began, and for that alone she pushed him back, breaking the kiss so suddenly and unexpectedly he couldn't stop her.

She didn't want him to stop her, even though a tiny bit of her heart broke apart when he didn't.

This was really it.

She should be crying, should be angry, should be _something_.

And yet nothing came to mind.

She could look at him now and remember everything from the past five years, each fight and prank and moment of friendship, the times when she thought there could have been something more but never bothered to figure out. And she knew every time she'd see him in the future she'd remember it all over again, and maybe they'd move on and past this, but she'd never stop remembering him.

Some people have sweet regrets.

Other people have sweet memories.

She'd have him, a part of him and his heart that she'd always keep.

And Jyou would have her, all of her.

And it was nothing to be sad about, though a part of her just wanted to cry. That would happen, she knew, when she left him here and went home.

But right now, she could be brave enough to do the right thing—if there ever was such a thing.

She'd at least be brave enough to make a choice.

And it was suddenly so clear now.

Finally reaching the closure she'd been needing ever since they first met, she smiled a little at Taichi now and wished she could tell him how much she loved him, how she'd never love any other man the way she loved him. But it wouldn't matter, wouldn't change anything, and she didn't want it to change. And it would go unsaid, because somehow, she thought he already knew.

Taichi now leaned forward, fingers tracing her cheek and coming to rest over her mouth, and kissed the part on the back of his hand that covered her lips. "This is as close as we get, and as far as we go. There is nothing else."

She shook her head, squeezing his hand. "No, Taichi. There will always be more."

And then she let him go.

Finally, she could breathe again.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
